Nothing in Revelation is literal or scientifically defined. It is mostly a spiritual experience, though the physical may be manifested in some way.
Really?
1Co:15:19:
If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable.
1Co:15:32:
If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus,
what advantageth it me,
if the dead rise not?
let us eat and drink;
for to morrow we die.
Re:17 includes a vision in symbolic language and an explanation that would be in what kind of language if not literal?? These area bit long so i won't post all the verses.
What doe the verses mean that come after this verse and how does it affect the understand of what the vision is covering?
Re:17:7:
And the angel said unto me,
Wherefore didst thou marvel?
I will tell thee the mystery of the woman,
and of the beast that carrieth her,
which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
Same thing is this chapter, there is a vision and there is an explanation. What style of language does the explanation use if not literalism?
Da:7:15:
I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body,
and the visions of my head troubled me.
Da:7:16:
I came near unto one of them that stood by,
and asked him the truth of all this.
So he told me,
and made me know the interpretation of the things.
One final vision and explanation that needs to be defined if it is not literal.
Da:2:30:
But as for me,
this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living,
but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king,
and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
Da:2:31:
Thou,
O king,
sawest,
and behold a great image.
This great image,
whose brightness was excellent,
stood before thee;
and the form thereof was terrible.